


Cloak of Protection

by AkikoFumi



Category: Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome Facial Hair Bros, Cloak of Levitation, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective Rhodey, Rhodey Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 06:21:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8478598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkikoFumi/pseuds/AkikoFumi
Summary: Stephen Strange visits the Avengers, who have come back together as a team after the Accords. His cloak seems oddly fond of Tony.And it has good reasons for that.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [syriala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/syriala/gifts).



> syriala had this idea that the cloak of Strange always wraps around Tony when he's near. I ran with the idea.

“Sir?”

JARVIS' voice cuts through the music and Tony “ _hmm”_ 's, not looking away from the new suit he's working on. It's the best one he has ever created, made from a new alloy he invented together with T'Challa, faster, sleeker.

Made to withstand super-human strength.

“Sir, you have a visitor”, JARVIS speaks up again and this time, Tony looks up, frowning slightly. Rhodey hasn't left the tower, hasn't left Tony alone since the rest of the team moved back in; since -to the public- they became “The Avengers” again.

“Who is it?”

“Doctor Stephen Strange asks if you would have a moment for him, sir.”

That certainly gets Tony to perk up. He even smiles as he gets up, practically bouncing over to the stairs. “Sure, send him up! Did he say what he want?”

“He said it would be a visit to a friend.”

And with everything that has happened, with all the shit and hurt and betrayal Tony dealt with, nothing warms his heart more than this simple sentence. Of course he still keeps the possibility of Strange wanting a favour in mind, but maybe this really is just a friendly visit.

Tony wanders up the stairs – and freezes.

He doesn't even mean to, but-

Four months have not been enough to make him forgive Steve – or forget what he'd done. Some nights are still filled with nightmares, of Steve kneeling on top of him, shield raised, crushing it into the ARC.

Nothing has even really changed between them. They barely talk aside from the orders given on the battlefield and Steve is always cold towards Tony, a hard, steely expression ever-present on his face when they are in the same room.

Just like now.

Tony freezes in his steps for a second, before he plasters on a smile, wide and fake. He has the cuffs around his wrists to call the suit; he has improved the sensors in his body. He reminds himself that the suit will be here sooner than Steve can attack him-

Suddenly, there is a sound, like something rushing through the room.

In the next moment, Tony feels something wrap around him, settling warm and oddly _comforting_ on his shoulders.

“Well. That's certainly the first time this has happened”, comes a voice from the door and Tony's head whips around to Stephen Strange. Out of the corner of his eyes he also sees Steve's posture change, going all tense and ready to fight.

“Who are you?”, Steve asks. Strange raises a brow at him, then turns to Tony and gives him a smile.

“Tony. Long time no see.” He walks over, deliberately ignoring Steve. Tony shrugs in response but the smile that tugs on his lips is real. “You're awfully hard to catch, Stephen. It's good to see you. Now, can you get your cloak off me?”

Stephen raises a brow at him. “It's not my doing.”

And, okay, full stop. Tony _likes_ Strange but the whole magic thing still freaks him out a little ~~a lot.~~ He wants to ask, he does, but Steve's eyes are practically burning holes into his back and it's making him nervous.

Instead, he gestures over to the elevator.

“Let's go somewhere else to talk”, Tony suggests and turns – the cloak wafting behind him.

~~~~~

The cloak doesn't leave him alone.

Strange is staying a little longer, it turns out; he _did_ come by for a friendly visit but he also has business around here and Tony's tower is convenient for it.

It also means that the cloak is always around – and apparently it loves to wrap around Tony.

The next time it happens, it is during a very heated argument with Steve.

They have been called out today, some crazy science experiment gone awry. A normal weekday for a superhero.

And normally they work well in the field; the discrepancies between them forgotten but today Tony made a call, disobeyed Steve's orders.

He saved people.

But it doesn't matter.

  
  


He has barely touched down on the landing pad before Steve storms up to him, looking grim and angry and Tony briefly considers throwing himself back off the tower to escape.

“What the Hell were you thinking, Stark?!”, Steve asks hotly, just short of yelling. “What the _Hell_ was that out there? I told you to secure the building, instead you, you- you went off to do your own thing, endangering everyone-”

“I didn't endanger anyone, Rogers!”, Tony grits out. His palms are getting sweaty and he knows his heart-rate is already through the roof. He doesn't deal well with this; doesn't deal well with Steve yelling at him, looming over him. “I _saved lives._ ”

“It could have gone differently!!”

Tony can't help but think how before everything, before the Accords, it would have been “ _You could have gotten yourself killed, Tony_ ”. How it would have been worry directed at him instead of anger.

Steve comes even closer, his expression hard and unforgiving. “This was stupid, Stark! This is-”

Tony doesn't even really hear what follows, because suddenly the situation becomes too much. He feels cornered and defenseless even though he's still in the suit. He feels unsafe and Steve is _right there_ , that cold-blooded rage etched into his features that reminds Tony too much of Siberia.

He _really_ almost flings himself off the landing pad right then and there just to escape this, but before he can actually do it, there is a flash of colour and then Strange's cloak wraps around his metal-clad shoulders once more.

Steve looks surprised for half a second before he goes back to yelling, actual yelling by now.

And then he raises his hand.

The rational part of Tony's mind knows this means nothing. This is not Steve attacking him; it's Steve expressing his rage and frustration with gestures.

The irrational part of Tony's mind is scared, so scared, half expecting a hit already-

  
  


Steve is stopped dead in his tracks

Something is wrapped around his arm, keeping it fixed. He pulls, but it doesn't budge and only now Tony realizes it's the edge of the _cloak_ around Steve's arm. Steve's face contorts into a scowl and he takes another step forward.

Only for the cloak to rush off of Tony's shoulders. Before any of them can react, it's already wrapping around Steve's head and twisting, pulling.

Tony watches what happens. He doesn't- doesn't understand what is happening here, but no matter what Steve seems to try, he can't free himself, can't get a grip on the cloak. It keeps pulling him away from Tony, step by step.

  
  


“ **Enough!** ”

The cloak abruptly goes limp. Disentangles itself from Steve, who is left gasping and then hovers nearby. Strange looks a little disgruntled and he bids Steve a short apology, before he quietly asks Tony to come with him, the cloak settling around the sorcerer now, peacefully.

~~~~~

“Stephen, I think it's fair to say you owe me an explanation.”

Tony has his arms crossed over his chest, eyes focused on the other man. Strange looks unbothered. “It's magic, Tony. I thought you didn't care for that.”

The brunet huffs. “I don't _understand_ it”, he replies. “It's not logical. But that doesn't mean I don't care.”

Strange raises an eyebrow at him. “You do realize how contradicting that is?”

It's potential for a long and heated discussion.

So they have it.

~~~~~

The cloak really develops a mind of its own.

Whenever Tony is around, it settles on his shoulders rather than staying with Strange. Some times it even wraps around him like a blanket and while Tony makes a point in protesting whenever that happens, he is secretly pleased. As much as he denies it.... the cloak does give him a feeling of comfort.

  
  


One evening, on the last night Strange will spend at the tower, the whole team is gathered. A rare occurrence these days.

Rhodey is there too, staying close to Tony and glaring at Steve.

To say that it's a pretty tense atmosphere is an understatement.

Strange keeps mostly to himself, a bit away from the others but engaging in conversations. Thor is animatedly talking to him, all excited and smiling.

Meanwhile Steve still seems sour about the last mission and it's not long before Tony gets into another argument with him. Rhodey is by his side in an instant, telling Steve to back off and let it go, but it's no use.

By now, Tony doesn't even react when the cloak whooshes across the room once more and settles heavily on his shoulders. It pulls at him, too; pulls him closer to Rhodey, who gets the gesture as the invitation it is, wrapping an arm around Tony.

“Alright.”

Strange approaches them. His face is serious and he looks at Steve for a long moment, then at Tony. “I think I really do owe you an explanation now.”

Rhodey pipes up: “You mean, for why your freaky coat always wraps around Tony?”

Tony nudges him for this, but on the inside he's vibrating with the urge to know _why_ this is happening repeatedly. Judging from Stephen's face, however, he may not like the explanation very much.

The doctor gestures towards the cloak.

“You see, this is not merely a cloak. It's an artefact. Thanks to it I can fly and it has also already saved my life. It really does have a mind of its own. My old teacher used to say it's... fickle.”

Strange closes his eyes briefly.

“You were asking why it always seems to be drawn to you, Tony. That is because it thinks you need the protection. In this case... protection from Captain Rogers.”

Tony is glad for Rhodey's arm around him, otherwise he might've collapsed.

Everyone turns to look at him, a collective gasp seeming to go through the assembled team members. Steve himself looks stunned and like someone just slapped him. The cold, hard mask he's had on around Tony suddenly shattered.

“Protection from Steve?”, Natasha speaks up, breaking the shocked silence. Tony feels the desire to shrink away, to run and hide in his workshop. “Why would he need that?”

And oh, there is another minefield they haven't talked about: the truth about Siberia.

Tony can feel himself going pale and before he knows, Rhodey's talking softly to him, soothing him. The cloak wraps around both of them like a defense from the searching eyes in the room.

Through the whispered words of comfort and the rushing of blood in his own ears, Tony can hear Strange speaking up again.

“Miss Romanoff, I don't know the details about what happened between all of you, so I cannot give you an answer. But when the cloak decides that Tony is in need of protection from Captain Rogers, you can be certain that there is a good reason for this.”

Again there is silence, but Tony doesn't care. He presses deeper into Rhodey's embrace, lets the sound of Rhodey's heartbeat drown out the echoes of Siberia and focuses his mind on the warmth that comes from his best friend as well as from the cloak around them.

~~~~~

  
  


“I'm sorry my visit brought some... unpredictable difficulties”, Stephen says on the way to the elevator. The cloak is still around Tony's shoulders and by now he only feels mildly weird about it.

“Don't worry, Stephen. It's all good” Tony gives him a grin, pats his shoulder. “Weirder things have happened. Your magical cloak protecting me isn't even in the Top Ten.”

But it certainly ruffled some feathers. Tony feels a prickle of anxiety when he thinks about facing the team about it, sooner or later. The looks they gave him this morning were.... well. He prefers not to bother himself with this right now.

“You should stop by again sometime soon”, Tony suggests, distracting himself. “Maybe teach Thor some magic, he loves it, but he has no idea how to use it.” He smiles at the idea, then looks up at Strange, who is watching him with a thoughtful expression.

“What?”

The doctor shakes his head. “Tony, I have never seen the cloak acting like this. It's drawn to you and not for the reasons an artefact should be. If I may give you an advice, as your friend... talk to your team. You are no longer the team you were.”

Tony whips up a press-smile before the sting of these words can even really hurt. It's an instinctual response, the smile being his shield while his armor is missing.

The cloak actually thwaps Strange.

“I don't think this is a good idea, Stephen”, Tony says smoothly. His voice isn't even trembling, despite how shaken he feels. “It was great to see you again.”

Strange stops, the elevator doors opening behind him.

He looks at Tony for a long moment.

“Goodbye, Tony”, is all he says and this time when he moves to get into the elevator, the cloak slides off of Tony's shoulders, although hesitantly, and settles around Strange.

“Until next time.”

 


End file.
